Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • June 15, 2018 3 Gulf Pine Catholic (ISSN No. 0746-3804) June 15, 2018 Volume 35, Issue 21 The GULF PINE CATHOLIC , published every other week, is an official publication of the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi. Editorial offices are located at 1790 Popps Ferry Road Biloxi, MS 39532. Periodical postage paid at Gulfport, MS. —POSTMASTER— Send address changes to: The GULF PINE CATHOLIC 1790 Popps Ferry Road Biloxi, MS 39532 —PUBLISHER— Most Rev. Louis F. 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Allow three weeks for changes of address. —DEADLINES for JUNE 29 EDITION— News copy and photos: Due JUNE 21, 4 p.m. Advertising: Completed Ad and/or copy due JUNE 21, 10 a.m. Pope Francis rejects German proposal for inter-communion VATICAN CITY ( CNA/EWTN News ) -- One month after Vatican and German del- egates met in Rome to discuss a proposal put forward by German bishops to allow Protestant spouses in inter-denominational marriages to receive the Eucharist in certain circumstances, Pope Francis has rejected it. In a letter dated May 25 and addressed to Cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and president of the German bishops conference, Cardinal-elect Luis Ladaria SJ, the Vatican’s top authority on matters of doc- trine, said the text of the German proposal “raises a series of problems of considerable importance.” The letter was published June 4 on the blog of Veteran Vatican journalist Sandro Magister. The Holy See press office has confirmed the authenticity of the letter, which was also sent to members of the German delegation who attended a May 3 meeting between Ger- man prelates and Vatican official on the topic in Rome, including Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, archbishop of Cologne; Bishop Felix Genn of Münster; Bishop Karl-Heinz Wiese- man of Speyer; Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg and Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg. After speaking with Pope Francis about the matter in light of the May 3 discussion, Ladaria said the pope “came to the conclu- sion that the document is not mature enough to be published,” and cited three main rea- sons for the decision. First, Ladaria stressed that admission to Communion of Protestant spouses in inter- confessional marriages “is a topic that touch- es the faith of the Church and has relevance for the universal Church.” Allowing non-Catholics to receive the Eucharist, even in certain limited conditions, would also have an impact on ecumenical relations with other Churches and ecclesial communities “which should not be underes- timated.” Finally, he said the question of Com- munion is a matter of Church law, and cited canon 844 of the Code of Canon Law, which deals with access to the Sacraments of the Catholic Church. Specifically, canon 844 states that “Cath- olic ministers administer the sacraments licitly to Catholic members of the Christian faithful alone, who likewise receive them licitly from Catholic ministers alone,” apart from a number of exceptions spelled out in the canon. These exceptions include allowing non- Pope Francis. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA Catholic Christians to receive the sac- raments of Confes- sion, the Eucharist, and the Anointing of the Sick by non- Catholic ministers in churches where these sacraments are valid “when- ever necessity re- quires it or true spiritual advantage suggests it, and provided that dan- ger of error or of indifferentism is avoided.” Catholic min- isters, the canon says, can also ad- minister these sac- raments licitly on members of East- ern Churches that are not in full communion with Rome, “if they seek such on their own accord and are properly disposed.” The canon says this is also valid “for members of other Churches which in the judgment of the Apostolic See are in the same condition in regard to the sacraments as these Eastern Churches.” For non-Catholic Christians unable to ap- proach a minister from their own confession, the canon says they are able to receive these sacraments only “if the danger of death is present or if, in the judgment of the diocesan bishop or conference of bishops, some other grave necessity urges it.” However, to receive the sacraments they must seek reception “on their own accord, provided that they manifest Catholic faith in respect to these sacraments and are properly disposed.” The canon concludes underlining that in the case of the exceptions, “the diocesan bishop or conference of bishops is not to is- sue general norms except after consultation at least with the local competent authority of the interested non-Catholic Church or com- munity.” In his letter to Cardinal Marx, Ladaria noted that while there are “open questions” in some sectors of the Church in regards to the interpretation of canon 844, “the compe- tent dicasteries of the Holy See have already been charged with producing a timely clari- fication of these questions at the level of the universal Church.” However, he said it would be left up to diocesan bishops to judge when there is a “grave impending need” regarding the recep- tion of the sacraments. Ladaria, who was recently tapped by Pope Francis to get a red hat in a consistory later this month, heads the Vatican’s Congre- gation for the Doctrine of the Faith. His letter to German prelates follows a May 3 meeting on the topic of inter-com- munion between a delegation of German bishops and members of Vatican dicasteries to discuss whether the question of inter-com- munion for non-Catholic spouses in inter- denominational marriages could be decided at a local level, or whether it needed Vatican intervention. The meeting was called after reports, later denied by the German bishops’ conference, came out saying the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had rejected a proposal by the German bishops to publish guidelines allowing non-Catholic spouses of Catholics to receive the Eucharist in certain limited circumstances. In February, Cardinal Marx had an- nounced that the German bishops conference would publish a pastoral handout explaining that Protestant spouses of Catholics “in indi- vidual cases” and “under certain conditions” could receive Holy Communion, provided they “affirm the Catholic faith in the Eucha- rist.” SEE INTER-COMMUNION, PAGE 11